Dish-o-the-Week: Steak Shish Kabobs and PW Twiced Baked Potatoes

Since it's fair well to summer, I thought we'd do a little grillin' tonight.  It's still hot as Hades here in the South, so we went with some nice marinated steak shish kabobs and some delicious Pioneer Woman twice baked potatoes.  I went a little over board though, so Speed Racer and I are pretty stuffed. There's nothing like some fresh veggies roasted over a fire to make your mouth water.  I used onion, green pepper, steak, cherry tomatoes, and mushrooms on our shish kabobs.  First I marinated the steak, green pepper, and mushrooms in some red wine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, and lemon pepper.

I decided to go with PW's twice baked potatoes for our side.  They are fantastic, although I should have cooked them longer.

Then I got the bacon and fixin's ready for the twice baked potatoes.

Next cut up all your veggies and layer them in order on your skewers.  Note!!  Make sure you soak your skewers for at least 20 minutes before you grill...or they will catch on fire...and that's no good.

Next be sure to take a bite of your extra twice baked potatoes fixin's while you think no one is looking, but really your husband is taking embarrassing photos of you really looking your worst.  But then go ahead and post them on the internet...because we like to keep it real here.

Once your shish kabobs are done, and your twice baked potatoes are all cheesy and gooey...go spend an evening watching the movie Star Trek with the hubby, because you know that's how you roll.

I love September

It's hard to believe that today is the first day of September.  Fall is upon us and I don't feel quite ready.  I love September.  It's my favorite month...also because it's my birthday month, and well, quite frankly I LOVE birthdays.  Especially mine.  But this year it has snuck up on me, and I'm not quite sure what to do with September. I woke up Saturday morning at my parents house, to a foggy field view.  (Thus all the pictures.)  To me, it's a magical time when the seasons begin to transition.  Everything changes, and seems full of mystery...and there is fog.  I love fog, it reminds me of fairy tale books for some reason.

But I woke up, eyes still blood shot and exhausted from the day before to this beautiful view.  I stumbled out of bed...found my shoes...mumbled something about photos as I passed my Mom and went out the back door.  While I shot, I began to wake up.  The cool crisp air made me realize that summer is gone...and somehow I feel like I missed it.

I am determined not to do the same with September.  Don't get me wrong, it's going to be a busy month.  I have two, possibly three, weddings to do with Rebecca Claire Photography.  I have to get my tonsils removed.  And I have several senior portraits lined up.  Not to mention just the day to day working.  Speed Racer also has a ton of travel ahead of him this month, so that just makes us busy.  So I already feel like I'm letting it slip by.

Usually by now I already have my birthday list sent out (at times I have sent it out in July...yeah, I'm that kid).  But I haven't done it yet, and each time I try to I just seem to get discouraged.  Speed Racer wistfully asked what I wanted for my birthday this year, and for once I said, "I just don't know."

Unlike most people who say that who are modest and not greedy people, I did not say it because I don't want presents, I think I said it out of exhaustion.  There are MANY things that I want, but none of them seem to come in gift form...or affordable gifts at that.  I want time away.  Just for me and Speed Racer.  I want to buy practical things that make dumb presents.  I want to figure out things.  I want to be surprised.  Stuff like that.

But the great thing about fall is that it always seems full of new prospects to me.  Unlike Spring, fall to me is a time to hunker down with a good book outside, and spend some quality time.  Even if this fall is busy, I know it's going to be a good one.  I'm taking fall back.

Friday. Friday!

Happy Friday everyone!  I'm headed back to the land that I love, the land of my youth, the land where everyone knows my name!  Well, maybe not that last one, at least I hope not, that would mean I'm in trouble. I'm headed back North to Virginia for the weekend.  It's going to be a fun time of get together, and actually lots of photography as well!  My friend The Twin and Preacher are in need of some photography skills, and I am happy to oblige them.  Lots more to post when I get back of the photo sessions.  Have a great, safe, weekend everyone!

ABCs

E is for Elephant.  I don't know how many times I said that this morning.  Learning the alphabet is an important part of children growing up, but it can also be a helpful exercise for photographers.  Not just because, "Me photographer, me need to know how to speak and write," but for many reason.

The other day I went out and about Knoxville and tried to find letters.  I had a specific word in mind because that helped me focus a little bit more.

But you would be surprised how hard it is to find letters, "in nature."

I love this exercise because it makes you look at the world differently.  It's a lot harder than I thought it would be.

I encourage you to try this, even without a camera!  It really helps you "see" objects not just how they are but as how you would like them to be. (Deep, right?)  So in the end I ended up with the word I wanted.

I'm still going to play around with the letters more, and also try to find some more letters.  Feel free to share what you find!

Dish-o-the-Week: Chicken Casserole with Biscuits

Who doesn't love biscuits in just about everything?  Mmmm...buttermilk biscuits.  The other name for this could be soup in biscuits.  It was a little runny, but once you mush up all the biscuits it thickens right up. As always, I kind of combined a couple recipes to go with what I had in the cupboard.  The recipe I used for the casserole called for store bought biscuits, but I had everything to make from scratch buttermilk biscuits.  So I did that.  You can find a great recipe for buttermilk biscuits in the Pioneer Woman Cookbook and it may be on her website as well.

As for the casserole, in a large sauce pan just add chicken, peas, mushrooms, salt, pepper, onion, and cream of chicken soup.  Heat it all up until bubbling and then pour it in the a casserole dish.  After that add the biscuits, store bought or not, on top and pop it in the oven for 25-30 min at 375.  It's great because it really is a simple dish, that will be great in those chillier months.

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

It's a beautiful evening here in Knoxville, TN.  It's that time of year when you can feel the change in the seasons.  Summer is on it's way out and autumn is pushing it's way in.  I love summer, with all my heart, and I'm always a little sad to see it go.  I also love fall.  After all, my birthday is in the fall.  I love birthdays too.  I would be perfectly content if it would just go Spring, Summer, Fall...Spring, Summer, Fall...and skip winter all together.  As I was sitting on the back porch, pretending that I was not getting eaten alive by mosquitoes, I was thinking of how this week so far has brought a little bit of everything.  There's some good...there's some bad...and there's some ugly. Let's start with the good.  Good thing #1, pretty weather and beautiful evenings.

Good thing #2.  Speed Racer in a fit of "I'm tired of mowing around this," last night, demolished our little weird patio thing we had going on.  Now it looks like this....

So that's some progress.  I too hate mowing around that thing.  Good thing #3.  Speed Racer passed his motorcycle course and is now road worthy on this lovely piece of machinery.

I think it's hot.  Nuff said.

Good thing #4, and I have no pictures for this one, is I got a part time job!  Just call me Nanny McPhee, or yeah, something like that.  I will be babysitting/nannying two little ones each morning.  I start tomorrow, so as always, I'm a little nervous, but excited all the same.

The Bad.

So it's really not that bad, the bad and the ugly are going to be kind of combined in this section.  One "bad" thing is that due to my new job, etc, the blog might be a little crazy here for awhile.  I am still totally dedicated to it, and will desperately be trying to write every day, but if I slip...don't blame me.  Okay, well you can blame me, but don't point your finger at me.  Not a finger!

The Ugly.

I have chronic tonsillitis.  I have to have a tonsillectomy.  I have to have it two days before my birthday.

Like I said, the bad and the ugly kind of mingle on this blog.  And I swear, this is the least gross, but representative of what I have, photo I could find.  It's icky.

So, still more good than bad or ugly.  I'm not looking forward to my surgery but definitely want to get it over with.  I'll keep you posted, and wish me luck on my first day as a nanny.

Portfolio

Portfolio's are very important.  It's important to keep track of what you have accomplished over the years.  It's easy to get too busy to take a picture of something you've done, but make the time.  It will be worth it. In light of that fact, here is my portfolio from my Undergraduate studies until now.  It has a little bit of everything, sculpture, traditional black and white photography, photojournalism, digital, landscape, portraits, and weddings.

Camera Basics: Let's talk Composition

As in any art there are some basic rules that help you understand what is good and what is not good.  In photography there are some basic rules of composition that help you discover why the eye looks to certain parts of a photograph...what draws us to that point?  But really, for me, I love to break the rules.  And after all, they're just guidelines. One of the most famous rules of composition is the rule of thirds.   Basically you want to imagine that your photo is divided into nine equal segments by two horizontal and two vertical lines.  You want to put the point of your focus along these lines or at the points where they intersect.

Another example.  At times however, I feel it is fine to break this guideline.  Sometimes it works to have your subject right smack dab in the middle.

Another thing to remember in the rule of thirds composition is that if you do not want that sense of emptiness in the rest of the picture, it is sometimes nice to balance out the other space with other elements.

Another guideline of composition to keep in mind is perspective.  What are you intending the viewer to see?  This is one of my favorites.  Do you want to take the picture from up close? Far away? Above? Below?  Right on the level?  Anyone can just snap a picture but determining what is important in the photo is up to the photographer and your unique "perspective."

The human eye is also drawn to patterns and repetition.  You can draw the eye of the viewer by capturing unique patterns and where they end.

Another composition element similar to capturing patterns is the use of the natural line.  Our eyes follow lines, we follow lines all day long, so naturally we try to find the source.

Another interesting element of composition is the use of natural frames.  This could be a doorway, a window, trees, arches, or anything else that frames an interest.

Depth is also effective.  Here there are layered elements that keep the eye moving in the photograph.  First the field, then single tree, then tree line, mountains, and finally sky.  It would probably be even more effective if there was something more prominent in the foreground.

Cropping is the most direct compositional element.  You are simply saying as the artist, this is what I want you to look at.  Nothing else is important.  And it's quite effective.

Finally, the last composition element is background.  Having a simple, non-distracting background lets the viewer enjoy what is in the foreground.  Photography is a 2-D art, and so even though our eyes might easily separate what is in the foreground and background, it is harder for a camera lens to do so.  Get rid of the distractions either by focus or moving location, so that you can focus on your subject.

Those are some of the main composition elements to think about when you're getting started.  You can mix and match them, isolate them, or just plain ignore them if you'd like, but sooner or later they will sneak into your photographs without you even realizing it.

Sunshine Cookies

Because it's Wednesday, because it's raining, because the day got off to a rough start for just  about everyone I've talked to.  I made these cookies.  They are sugar cookies with butter-cream icing that has been dyed yellow.  They are delicious with a big ol' glass of milk.  They have made my day better. I got this sugar cookie recipe from my sister in law Olie.  I think it's a pretty wide spread recipe but it is by far my favorite.  It makes lots and it's really simple.

Like most sugar cookie recipes you start by creaming together the butter and sugar.  Then you beat in the eggs and vanilla, stir in the flour, baking powder and salt.

Then you want to cover it and stick it in the fridge.  I thought an hour would be long enough but the dough was still a little too soft to manage.  So I put it in overnight.

On a side note: I love vanilla extract.  That is all.

Once it's ready, roll out the dough on a floured surface and then bake at 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes.  Then they come out all golden and perfect looking.

Once they've cooled you can top them with whatever kind of icing you dig.  What is not shown here is that I spent many an hour last night attempting to make my own butter cream icing, sans powdered sugar.  It didn't work out.  I moved on.  We got a divorce.

So this is actually Pillsbury butter cream icing, and it is fantastic.

I made lots.  Because everyone needs a little lift today.  Happy Wednesday!

Back to School and a bit of Bravery

It's back to school time.  A time when children will strap themselves to bed, so summer can last at least one more day.  A time when Mother's will try to hold back the tears and protecting arms.  A time of new shoes, bouquets of sharpened pencils, and haircuts. I use to get super excited about going back to school, cause, well I'm a dork.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE summer, very very much.  But especially when I was little, and the summers seemed long, I would get excited about seeing friends again and learning.  But most of all, I would get excited about back to school shopping.  As some of you know, I inherited my Grandmother's love of shopping and finding a good deal.  So back to school was just an excuse to go shopping! Hooray!

Inevitably however, the morning of the big day, I would find myself new outfit on, haircut, new kicks tied, backpack full of school supplies, bus note pinned to my chest, and absolutely feeling like I was going to puke my guts out.

Suddenly I would lose all care about friends, and realize that I was going to be in a crowd of people I didn't know, in a place that I would get lost in, and without  my Mommy.  This feeling has never gone away.  I was a wreck the first day my parents left me at college, and every first day at a new job ever since.

I know that everyone is nervous about change, and that change is always scary.  I know that doing things in spite of change, and in the face of nervousness is actually brave.  For a long time I thought of bravery as something reserved for hero's, for wars, and people who saved babies from burning buildings.  The truth is, that is beyond brave...that is unfathomable.  That is divine help.  But when I look around me in my life, I see people who are brave daily, and that is a hard kind of bravery.  Mother's and Father's who do it all on their own, friends who tell you the truth when they know you'll be mad, spouses who work at jobs they hate because it's best for their families, people who swallow their pride and take unemployment or lesser jobs than they are qualified for, people who help strangers, people who embrace family struggles or a family that may not embrace them back, people who keep trying no matter what it's about.

Bravery can be a lot of things, and most of all it's about being vulnerable to change because you know it's right: whether it's letting a child go and grow up, or getting on a big yellow school bus while holding your brothers hands.